Leading Off (2/6/14)

Ethan Couch Given No Jail Time For Intoxication Assaults. Prosecutors had hoped there would be at least some time in jail tacked on to the 10-year probation he received for the four intoxication manslaughter counts, but no dice. Couch’s defense attorney, Reagan Wynn, who was successful with (and then pretty quickly reviled for) his affluenza defense, said the coverage of the case had “so twisted the facts that were actually presented in court that I don’t think the truth will ever be able to come out now.” He added, “It was ridiculous to think that we walked into court and said, ‘Oh, this is a rich white kid,’ and [Judge Jean Boyd] decided to probate him.” Rebuttal: That is what more or less happened. Wynn basically presented that exact defense (“this is a rich white kid” being a simplistic reading of so-called affluenza) and he won with it. Having people still like you or your client after all of that is not part of the deal, Reagan. Ice up, son.